The Support of Family and Friends
by DisneyLover100
Summary: Book Three: The continuing story of Spencer and Chelsea. Spencer is still friends with his sponsor, but his cravings and nightmares have nearly ended. He agreed to move in with Chelsea and coming home each night to her has healed many of his past wounds. Will he stay clean when he gets shot? Will Hotch let Chelsea help him when Hailey and Jack are put in protective custody?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **I'm sure it is obvious, but again as a disclaimer - I do NOT own Criminal Minds or any of its character, but I'd love to. :)

This is a continuation of my first 2 stories _Damaged: Time to Heal_ and _The Healing Continues_. The one-shot _Home at Last_ fits in before this, but is not necessary to follow the story.

All of the characters that I established in those stories continue here. This story starts where the Book Two finished. I was always upset that no one seemed to care that Reid nearly died from Anthrax poisoning or that he was shot in the line of duty. I addressed the hospital stay from the Anthrax in my last story and in this story I will show what happened behind the scenes of episode _Faceless, Nameless_. I hope you enjoy this and leave reviews.

* * *

Reid was allowed to go back to work on May 25th, but was not cleared to travel until the first of June. The team was not called away on a case for a couple of weeks and that gave Reid time to completely heal from the Anthrax poisoning. His first week back he had felt fine, but his deep persistent cough was annoying to both Prentiss and Morgan. They tried to get Hotch to send him home, but Reid insisted he wanted to be at work. His doctor had cleared him so Hotch could not see a reason to send him home.

Hotch asked Reid to take his files and work in the conference room for the week and that helped eased the tension in the bullpen. Every day Reid's cough was getting better and by the following week he was able to go back to work at his own desk.

Spencer moved all of his belongings to Chelsea's condo between cases and they were both busy with work and happy living together. After the break in casework because of the Abbot & Carson Brokerage case, Chelsea's caseload had finally picked up and she found herself working full time again. Because of the independent nature of her job, she was able to work when Spencer was at the BAU and put in more hours when he was away on a case. That flexibility was helpful when he had an afternoon off and it kept her mind busy when she knew the team was tracking an unsub.

Chelsea loved all of Spencer's team. They were his family and they all had each other's back both at work and at home. Although she was friendly with all of the team, Chelsea and Spencer spent most of their time with Emily and Morgan. Chelsea had formed a close friendship with Emily and she could tell that Morgan saw her like a little sister. The four of them went out to dinner frequently, and occasionally one or the other would bring a date along.

On Friday, July 17th a unique case came in and their team was asked to investigate. Spencer sent a text to Chelsea letting her know that they were being sent to Canada to check out a US Veteran's confession of murdering 10 victims. He was unclear if they would be able to get any jurisdiction to work on the case so he may be home soon; maybe even later that night.

After their initial investigation, the team realized that Sgt. William Hightower, an Iraq war Veteran had crossed the Canadian boarder and given a false confession to get the FBI involved. He wanted them to look into the disappearance of many people living on the streets in Detroit, including his sister. He produced enough proof to get Hotch to agree to look into the possible murders. Sgt. Hightower's evidence led them to search for a human trafficker that abducted people in Michigan and used them for medical experiments at a pig farm in Canada. The case took a disturbing turn when they realized there were nearly 100 unidentified victims and their bodies had been disposed of by feeding them to the pigs.

The team had been able to save the last victim and bring her safely home to her mother, but as bad as the case had seemed, it was worse when Sgt. Hightower shot and killed the unsub. He believed the suspect was going to get away with murder and decided that he would rather spend the rest of his life in jail than let that happen. The case had international jurisdiction because the killings had been in Canada and the victims were American and reports needed to be filed in both countries.

Spencer arrived home at nearly midnight the next Thursday night. What he thought might be few hour case had turned into nearly a week. It took time to find how the unsub carried the victims to Canada and another day to locate the farm and the surviving victim. After that there were piles of evidence and paperwork that the team had to sort out with the Canadian police. When the suspect was shot, it increased the anxiety level of everyone there and the paperwork. They were all exhausted on the flight home.

Each night when Spencer called Chelsea, he assured her that he was not in any danger that day. They were still investigating, but none of the team fit the unsub's victim type. He didn't bring up that when they did identify the suspect, there was always a chance that he could get violent when apprehended. Coming from a family of cops, she was aware of that also, but it was something they never discussed. After the suspect had been killed, he told Chelsea that the case was over, but they were needed to help finish up with the paperwork in Canada and he wouldn't be home until late that night.

Spencer didn't often talk about a case when he called her. He usually wanted to spend the conversation with her on more pleasant things and take his mind of the horrible things that he saw. He was even less forthcoming on this case. He told her that the case had taken them to a pig farm in Ontario, Canada. He didn't say much about the case specifics; it wasn't something he wanted to relive in a conversation.

Chelsea had stayed up to greet him when he arrived home. She had missed him and knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep until he was back. When she heard his key in the door, she jumped up to greet him and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. She stepped back and asked laughing, "What is that smell? Did you bring the pig pen back with you?"

He had a small smile, "It's my bag. I fell this morning at the farm and didn't have time to get the pants dry-cleaned. I stuck them and my dirty shoes in a plastic bag before packing, but it didn't completely help."

"You fell? I don't even want to know what Morgan said about that." She giggled. "Give me the bag, I'll put the pants and any other dry cleaning stuff in the cleaner bag and take it down to the lobby now. We won't have to worry about the smell and it will get cleaned tomorrow. Give me what your wearing and I'll get a load of laundry started. I think I'll spray your bag with Lysol and hang it in the guest bath to air out also."

He just nodded and started to take off his clothes. He was completely exhausted and he welcomed her help, but he started to blush when he was about to take of his boxers. She smiled when she saw the blush and kissed him until he wasn't worried about being naked any longer. She swatted him on his bare butt and told him she'd meet him in the bedroom soon.

He jumped and squeaked when she swatted him and hurried off to the bathroom. When she had cleaned up his bag, started a load of laundry and had taken the bag of dry cleaning to the lobby for the morning pick-up, she headed to the bedroom. She heard Spencer blow-drying his hair. She came in the bathroom smiling at how cute he looked with his wet hair hanging in his face. "Here let me help you." He was wrapped in a towel and she had him sit on the lid of the toilet. She enjoyed running her fingers through his hair while she continued to dry it.

"I hope you don't have to be at work early."

"No, we were given the day off. Hotch told us that we deserved the three day weekend. I think I want to sleep the hole time."

She smiled, "Maybe you can stay in bed all weekend, but I don't really plan to let you sleep the ENTIRE time."

He smiled back. "I think I like that plan."

#

Chelsea woke up to Spencer shaking violently at 3:00am. She realized immediately that he was having a nightmare. This was only the second time since they had been together. The first time it had terrified her. She woke up to his thrashing body beside her and thought he was having a seizure. Once she was fully awake and turned on the lights, he had calmed down a bit and finally woke up.

Spencer had told her about his nightmares when they were first dating and how they had interfered with his life 4 years ago, but she hadn't realized how bad they were until she witnessed one in person. Back in 2005 when he was having nightmares nearly every night, he didn't want to admit it to anyone. He felt it would make him look weak and show everyone that he wasn't cut out for the job. No matter what time he had the nightmare, he was unable to get back to sleep. With only a couple of hours of sleep each night, he was becoming extremely sleep deprived and ended up confiding in Morgan. Morgan admitted to having horrible nightmares not long after he started with the BAU and Gideon had helped him. After his discussion with Gideon he was able to keep the nightmares at bay for the most part. They still happened about once a month, but he was able to deal with that.

He had very few nightmares since he and Chelsea had started dating. His mind was distracted after work and falling asleep with her in his arms gave him a comfort that he had never known before. Chelsea knew he'd had only 2 nightmares while he was out of town since they had been together.

She knew this case on the pig farm had upset him. He had not told her any of the details, but she was able to find a few stories on the Internet before he arrived home. He had not wanted to talk about the case and she decided not to mention what she had read. There had not been many details released, but what was reported was that an unnamed suspect had died in his home after reports that 100 victims had been slaughtered and feed to his pigs. There were no official statements and all of the information had come from anonymous sources. Just reading the story and not actually being at the crime scene had made her ill; she couldn't imagine what Spencer was feeling.

The last time he had a nightmare, he had tried to get up and go read in the other room explaining that he never was able to get back to sleep. That night, she told him she could distract him and make him tired enough to sleep again. He started to protest, but she pulled him close and kissed him. She kept kissing him until he was returning the kiss and it became a passionate need. The next morning, she was smiling at him when he woke up and told him with a big grin, "I told you I could make sure you got back to sleep."

This time, as soon as he started to shake, she knew he was reliving some of the past case. They had only been asleep for about 2 hours and she knew he was exhausted and needed to get more sleep. After he was fully awake, she helped him calm down by softly stroking his head and shoulders. She asked if he wanted to talk about the dream or the case and he just shook his head. After his breathing had gone back to normal, she kissed him and told him she loved him and was going to make sure he fell back to sleep. He smiled knowing how she was planning to do it, joking that he needed to wake up in the middle of the night more often.

When his phone rang at 5:30am, she was sleeping and confused. They'd had less than 4 hours of sleep and he'd been told to take the day off. After he got off the phone with JJ, he told her that the team was needed right away. It was a time sensitive matter and all of the other BAU teams were away on cases.

Chelsea was angry. Spencer didn't blame her, but he had never seen her like this before. "Your team has been away on a horrible case for a week and had little rest. You get home around midnight and now they expect you all to jump up and be productive at 5:30 in the morning? How do they expect you to function?" After her outburst, she seemed to resign herself that he had to go, "Where are you going this time? You know your go bag is airing out in the other room and empty."

He was sitting on the edge of the bed holding her hand. "I know. It's a local case and JJ said I didn't need a bag. She figured none of us had time to repack. We can come home when we need to change." He paused, "I'm sorry," pausing again. "I don't know all the specifics yet, I was the last person JJ called. She received an email while she was talking to me giving her a few details. An unsub sent a local ER surgeon a threat yesterday, that if he doesn't let him kill his son, he will kill another victim each day. The DC Police just found victim number 2 this morning."

Chelsea sighed, "A doctor takes an oath do to no harm. I can't imagine any father being given a choice like that, but I'm sure a surgeon who spends his life trying to save stranger's lives every day is sick about this. I'm sorry I yelled. I know it's not your fault and it is selfish to want you here all to myself this weekend. But your team really needs a break after that last case and it really isn't fair."

"I know." Spencer acknowledged, "I love my job, but times like this are trying. We all work well even tired and under stress, but we are not going to be at our most productive. If there was another team available, they wouldn't have called us in."

"Go get ready. I'll make you some breakfast. At least if you get some food and coffee in you, you'll be better off to face the unsub."

He smiled a thank you and kissed her. As he headed towards the bathroom he realized for probably the millionth time how lucky he was to have Chelsea in his life.

* * *

**Author's note: **I made a slight change in the date of the _To Hell…And Back _Pig Farm case. The case was shown as the last episode in May 2009 and the "next day" where Hotch is missing was shown in September. I chose to make that case in July and that made the timeline of both Reid and Hotch back at work in September make more sense.


	2. Chapter 2

The victim had been found at his apartment and Reid was the first BAU member on the scene. When Morgan arrived, Reid could tell he was as irritated as Chelsea had been. He was trying to figure out from the on-site detective why the BAU was needed in a local murder case. Before the detective had time to answer, Reid explained the whole story.

Nobody had been able to reach Hotch, but after JJ left another message for him the team headed to Dr. Barton's home to find out what they could from the doctor. Dr. Barton had not told his son Jeffrey exactly what was happening, but told him that he was in danger and needed to stay home from school. When Jeffrey overheard his dad telling the BAU team about the letter he received, Jeffrey decided he didn't want someone else to die because he was hiding and snuck out a window to go to school.

When everyone found out what Jeffrey had done, Rossi, Morgan and JJ all went to the school to keep him and the other students safe. That left Prentiss and Reid to go through all of the doctors case files to find out who the unsub was.

Prentiss and Reid had profiled several reasons that the unsub may want to retaliate at the doctor by killing his son and had Garcia send over all of Dr. Barton's patient files from the hospital. They then started the tedious work of checking each file against the profile.

As the day went on, Prentiss was upset that they could still not reach Hotch and decided to go to his home and get him. She told Reid and Dr. Barton that it would be much faster going through all of the files if they had another set of eyes. When she arrived at Hotch's townhouse she found Hotch was gone, there was a bullet hole in the wall and his phone, credentials, and wallet were all still there.

Prentiss first called Garcia for her to contact the local police and CSI team. Garcia was also planning to call all of the morgues and local hospitals to see if anyone fitting Hotch's description had turned up. The next call Prentiss made was to Reid. She did not want to distract the team from Dr. Barton's case, but Reid had been expecting her to return with Hotch and would realize something was wrong if she didn't get in touch with him.

With Prentiss and Garcia trying to get leads to what had happened to Hotch that left Reid alone with the mounds of information on the surgeries that Dr. Barton had preformed. Reid decided to look at the case from a different angle and with Dr. Barton's help they figured out who the unsub was. Just as he was about to contact Garcia with that information, Prentiss called to let him know that Hotch had been found alive in the hospital under Morgan's name. Prentiss then helped with the final piece of the puzzle that made Reid realize that Dr. Barton was the actual target, not his son.

After that, everything moved very fast. Reid turned to let Dr. Barton know he was the intended target, but the doctor had just walked out the front door to go pick up his son from school. Reid ran to the front door in time to see Patrick Meyers pull a gun on the doctor. Reid jumped and tackled Dr. Barton in time to save his life, but ended up getting himself shot in the knee.

After trying unsuccessfully to talk Mr. Meyers into dropping his weapon, Reid had to shoot him to save the doctor and himself. It was not a mortal wound and Dr. Barton was able to keep him stable until the EMTs arrived. After the ambulance arrived, the doctor tried to help Reid also, but his son arrived home from school with the rest of the team at that moment. Soon after that, another ambulance arrived to take Reid to the hospital.

Prentiss and Garcia had figured out that Foyet had been the one that attacked Hotch and then took him to the hospital because he wanted him to survive. Rossi, Morgan, and JJ needed to go to the hospital that Hotch was at to met Prentiss to figure out the next step to find Foyet. With some evidence that Prentiss had discovered they profiled that Foyet was going after Hotch's wife and son.

After Morgan had collected Reid's gun and other personal items, he followed him to the ambulance to see what hospital they would be taking him to. Knowing that Reid was being taken to a different hospital and none of the team would be able to accompany him or fill out any paperwork, Rossi made a few calls.

First he contacted the hospital to let them know that FBI SSA Dr. Spencer Reid was in route in an ambulance with a gunshot wound to the knee. All of his personal belongings had been kept for safety so he had no ID on him. He also let them know that his fiancé, Chelsea Lozano, would be arriving soon. She would be able to fill out any necessary documents and she is the only person that the hospital should give any information to outside of the FBI.

Rossi next contacted Chelsea. She had been too tired to work and had decided to go shopping to get some fresh air and out of the condo. When she saw Rossi's name come up on her caller ID her heart sank and she feared the worse. Rossi was too the point and let her know that Spencer was going to be OK, but he had been shot in the knee and would be going into surgery as soon as he arrived at the hospital. He let her know that he told the hospital that she was his fiancé because he didn't believe that they would let her see him or give her info as his girlfriend. He continued to fill her in on what had happened to Hotch and let her know why none of the team would be there at the hospital with her.

She was overwhelmed by all of the information that Rossi had given her. She was glad she had gone out shopping. The mall was closer to the hospital than her place and she was already dressed. She knew every surgery can be dangerous, but she was less fearful with this news than she had been the morning Morgan had called when Spencer was sick. At least this time she knew what had happened and what steps were being taken to help him.

Her biggest worry was the anesthesia used for the surgery and what pain medicine would be given afterwards. In this case the medications were necessary, but she would work with Spencer and his doctor to only prescribe narcotics for the first day and find non-narcotic substitutes after that. Those choices would be less effective, but she was positive that Spencer would make that choice. If the pain became unbearable and he needed a more potent drug, she would be there to help him take the least amount possible and have her grandfather help him deal with any ramifications of it.

#

Chelsea checked in with the registration desk and was shown the waiting room where the surgeon would look for her after surgery. She was handed a pile of forms to fill out and asked for any information that they could give her. She was told they would have a nurse come out and talk to her soon. She filled out as much of the patient history as she knew just as a nurse came out to talk to her.

"Ms. Lozano?" the nurse inquired. "Dr. Reid's surgery just began and they expect it to take 4 or more hours to complete."

It was now nearly 5:00 in the evening. Chelsea asked, "They just started the surgery?"

The nurse nodded, "When he arrived they started an IV, and took several X-rays and a CT scan to determine exactly what was needed. The patient," she paused, "your fiancé was not very corporative about being put under the anesthesia. He was requesting a just a local. The surgeon waited until he had all of the X-rays to confirm what he thought, but with all the damage done, they would not be able to keep the area numb long enough with a local and the patient would not be able to keep still that long. It could cause problems during the surgery. Dr. Reid insisted at looking at the X-rays and asking exactly what they planned to do before he consented to the general anesthesia." The nurse smiled, "I'm glad he consented because Dr. Blaze is kind of an old school hard ass that has a horrible bed side manner. Don't get me wrong, he is the best orthopedic surgeon on the East coast, but he is used to getting his way without question."

Even though Chelsea felt sad for Spencer, she couldn't help but smile at the thought of him asking the surgeon for all of the details. She was not going to talk about Spencer's past addiction, but she knew the nurse was thinking there could be an issue. She decided to stick close to the truth and told the nurse, "He really does not like the idea of being knocked unconscious. He has an extremely high IQ and an eidetic memory so even though he is not a medical doctor, he would be able to understand what procedures the surgeon planned. After hearing everything, I'm sure that he understood that he needed the general. Can you tell me, in simpler terms what they are doing?"

The nurse explained to Chelsea that the bullet had gone completely through his knee. It had caused massive tissue damage, but it had also separated the kneecap from the bones in his leg. Today they would need to first repair all of the damage and then attach everything with 2 titanium screws. The screws would need to be surgically removed in a couple months, but at that time, if everything healed correctly that would be a much quicker and simpler procedure.

Chelsea thanked the nurse for her time and texted Garcia. She didn't want to disrupt her if she was helping the team track down Foyet, but she wanted to give her an update on Spencer. Plus she needed some insurance and other information she did not know to complete all of the forms.

#

After she turned in all of the forms; she waited. She had her Kindle in her purse and she tried to read but she couldn't concentrate. She was worrying too much to do much of anything. Spencer was in surgery, Hotch was stable, but with all of his stab wounds not out of danger, and the rest of the team were all out chasing a very smart serial killer. Knowing there was nothing she could do to help anyone just made the worrying worse. She called her grandpa and her mom, but they were both in New York visiting a relative. They were driving back, but wouldn't be home until after 10:00 or 11:00pm. All Chelsea could do was worry and wait.

Chelsea went to the cafeteria around 7:30 to get some coffee and something to snack on. She didn't want to be away from the waiting area very long, but she was getting sleepy and needed a pick-up. They had expected the surgery to last about 4 hours so she still had some waiting to do.

When she got back to the waiting room there was a nice looking older man sitting there. He stood up and asked, "Are you Dr. Reid's fiancé? The nurse told me I'd find you here."

Chelsea nodded. Years of living with family and friends in law enforcement made her very suspicious by nature. She knew that no one was aware that she was here except the team and her family. Plus he had just called her his "fiancé". Only the hospital staff thought she was engaged to Spencer. "Yes. Could you excuse me for a minute? I just need to use the facilities."

She really didn't want to interrupt Rossi when he was on a case, but she realized she didn't remember what Foyet looked like and this man showing up had really spooked her. She carefully took a quick photo of the man and headed into the restroom to text it to Rossi.

Less than a minute later she received an answer. "Smart girl to be skeptical of a stranger. That is Dr. Barton the ER surgeon we helped today. He was with Spencer when he was shot." She looked at the answer and realized how relived she was. The thought of The Reaper knowing who she was or wanting to get near Spencer had made her heart race. She also vowed to go and look up photos of him so if he ever did get close to her she would know it.

She came out of the restroom and headed back to the doctor. "Hi, I'm sorry for that. I'm just a bit frazzled at the moment. Yes, I'm Chelsea, Spencer Reid's fiancé."

"Hi, I'm Dr. Barton. Dr. Reid and the rest of the agents helped my son and I today. I found out what hospital he was at and after I held my son for a while I needed to see how Dr. Reid was doing. I am not a surgeon at this hospital, but one of the nurses here used to work in the ER at my hospital and knew me. She told me about his surgery and that I'd find you in here." He paused, "I'm so sorry. It's my fault that your fiancé was shot."

Surprised by that admission, she sat back and listened to the doctor's version of what had happened. From the doctor's point of view, the team had been very helpful in protecting his son, but he said that Spencer had been the one to figure out who the unsub was and why he was doing it. Dr. Barton told Chelsea, "After Agent Prentiss left and Dr. Reid told me she was not coming back due to some other urgent matter I was pissed. What could be more urgent that helping my son?"

Chelsea knew he wasn't really looking for an answer so she kept quiet and let him finish. "After my outburst, your fiancé told me to sit down, that we were going to look at this a different way. The details don't really matter, but he gave me some things to think about and helped me relax. I'm not sure how it happened, but his voice was soothing and he helped me remember something that was the key to finding the guy." He paused for a second and looked at Chelsea. "I know I was upset that everyone else had left and left me with this one extremely young looking agent. I was thinking that one of the more experienced agents or at least several agents would have been more useful..,"

He looked like he was about to break down just at his memory. Chelsea put her arm on his shoulder in a comforting manner and said with a smile, "Spencer is older than he looks and started at the Bureau when he was young."

Dr. Barton smiled back and nodded. "Now looking at it in hindsight, it was the best thing that could have happened. With just Dr. Reid there, the place was quiet and his voice almost had a hypnotic quality to it. He helped me find the missing piece of information in my memory. If there had been other agents or more noise in the house, I don't think I could have remembered it. At least for a long time."

Chelsea was smiling at hearing how Spencer had helped solve the case. It made her proud to hear first hand how he had helped. She knew that all of the casework they did was a team effort, but Spencer never talked about giving himself credit. He sometimes would say how Morgan and Prentiss apprehended a fleeing suspect or how JJ helped a victim remember something during an interview; he bragged often about Garcia's computer skills and even how Hotch and Rossi got a confession out of a subject, but never talked about his own contributions.

Dr. Barton continued telling her the details of the day and apologized again to her for Spencer getting shot. "If I had listened to him and not gone outside; he wouldn't have had to save me. I'm here talking to you because your fiancé pushed me out of the way of the bullet and was shot because of me. I'm so sorry."

Chelsea took his hand and said, "Dr Barton, this was NOT your fault. The only person to blame is the man with the gun. You did nothing wrong."

He started to say, "I went outside.." but she cut him off.

"You were only interested in getting to your son and keeping him safe. Any good father would do that and you had no idea that the suspect was after you not your son. Spencer was just doing his job and I know he doesn't blame you." After looking at him, she realized he didn't believe her so she continued. "Dr. Barton, I know he doesn't blame you because I don't blame you. I live with him and I love him. I know him better than anyone and believe me that I am sure that he knows that the only person responsible is the suspect. And from what you told me, and what I know about Spencer, even after being shot, he couldn't kill him. He had to shot him to protect both of you, but he didn't want to kill him."

She could tell that her words were getting through to Dr. Barton. He held others' lives in his hands every day and probably felt a great loss when he couldn't save him, but he never blamed himself. This was different and having Chelsea tell him it wasn't his fault was exactly what he needed.

Dr. Barton hugged Chelsea and said thank you just as Spencer's surgeon came out to report on how he was doing. Dr. Barton asked Chelsea if he could listen in on the surgeon's information and Chelsea agreed. She actually was relieved, she didn't know much about knee surgery and Dr. Barton was able to ask questions that Chelsea never would have thought of.

Dr. Blaze told Chelsea that he was in recovery and she could go and see him in about an hour. Dr. Baron thanked her for listening and hugged her again before he headed home to spend time with his son.


	3. Chapter 3

When Chelsea was led back to see Spencer about 45 minutes later his eyes were closed. He looked peaceful and she hated to think of the therapy and the pain that she knew was coming. The nurse that had brought her back told her she would get his attending nurse so she could get an update on his condition. About 15 minutes later the same nurse that she had talked to in the waiting room earlier joined her.

Chelsea looked up, "How is he doing?"

The nurse came over to take his vitals and told her that everything had gone well and for now sleeping was good for him. "He needs to rest and keep his knee elevated for around 48 hours and then he can start some limited movement. The next day if all goes well, he should be able to go home. He will need a lot of physical therapy over the next couple months, but there should not be any long term damage."

Chelsea was relieved. She knew as a profiler he didn't have to be able to chase a suspect, just like he didn't have to carry a gun, but he wanted to be a full duty agent and not stuck at a desk or a station. She asked, "How long do you think he will sleep?"

The nurse looked at the chart, "He probably will wake up in a couple of hours, but he will continue to doze off and on most of the next two days. The morphine will keep him pretty out of it."

Chelsea didn't want to sound alarmed but she wanted to make sure she understood what the nurse had just said. "I understand he's on morphine now, but are you saying that his orders keep him on it for the next 48 hours?" The nurse nodded so Chelsea continued, "Isn't that a bit excessive for that strong of a pain killer?"

"As I mentioned, Dr. Blaze is one of the most respected orthopedic surgeons in the country, but he had his own way of doing things. He feels that for a body to heal the first 48 hours should be pain free. A body doesn't develop an addiction in that amount of time if there is actually pain. The dosage is set for a maximum amount for his body weight now, but it will diminish over the next 48 hours. I know that is different than what many surgeons do, but it is not dangerous, unless there is already an addiction." Finishing the sentence almost as a question.

Chelsea was in a slight panic. She couldn't admit that he was an addict; it could jeopardize his job. She also couldn't sit by and let him be dosed for 2 days with morphine. She tried to sound calm, "No it's not a physical problem; he just hates the feeling of being out of control." She was staying as close to the truth as possible. He had been clean for over two years now and the addition technically was mental at this point not physical she reasoned with herself. "I've never seen him drunk. He will never drink more than two drinks during an evening and he told me he's only been drunk 3 times in his life and he hated it." All of that was the truth. He really did not like getting drunk. He had used Dilaudid as an escape and told her it was completely different feeling than being drunk.

"He has an IQ of 187, reads at 20,000 words per minute, and an eidetic memory. He is used to his mind being clear and sharp and I know he will want off the morphine soon. Is there any way he can change the doctor's orders when he wakes up? Wouldn't the patients wishes be followed?" Chelsea asked.

"Under most circumstances, yes, but because he is under the influence of a drug, the doctor can make the recommendations himself. Unless you have power of attorney as his fiancé?"

"We've talked about it, but we never filled out the paperwork. We moved in together 2 months ago and he just proposed 2 weeks ago. He's been out of town for work until last night, we haven't even been able to go ring shopping yet." Chelsea again stayed as close to the truth as possible. She thought some of the nurses might wonder why she didn't have a ring on her finger. "His boss has power of attorney, but he just got out of surgery this morning at another hospital himself."

"Really?" the nurse asked. "Was it the same guy who shot your fiancé?"

Chelsea shook her head, "No, he was stabbed 12 times by a different suspect last night right after the team came home from a case. I didn't find out about it until I got the call about Spencer being shot. They are working on that case now, which is why I'm the only one here tonight. It hasn't been a very good 24 hours for this team."

The nurse looked a little shocked. Chelsea wasn't sure if it was because both Hotch and Spencer had suffered injuries or that Chelsea had sounded so calm about it. She really wasn't calm, but she was too worried about the morphine to think about anything else.

Chelsea continued before the nurse could say anything. "So let me see if I understand you. The doctor won't take him off the morphine until he is completely lucid to make that decision. But he won't be completely lucid until a few hours after he is taken of the medication two days from now."

The nurse could see Chelsea's frustration, "Yeah sorry, that pretty much sums it up."

"You don't think there will be anyway that I would be able to convince Dr. Blaze that I am stating what I know Spencer's wishes would be?"

"No, like I said he has a horrible bed side manner and is very set in his ways. I have to go check on another patient. I'll be back in about an hour to check his vitals again," she said as she left Chelsea alone with her thoughts.

#

Chelsea knew that she needed fix this somehow. Getting help from Hotch was out of the question. He unofficially knew about Spencer's addition and if he was well he could come and sign some papers stating that is subordinate had made it clear to him many times over the years that he did not like being drunk or out of control. But since Hotch himself was on pain medication, he couldn't be any help, even if Chelsea could fax the paperwork to him.

Her mind keep flashing to the story Spencer had told her about Dr. Kimura when he had been ill a couple of months ago. He told her that he was so forceful about not wanting any narcotics that he thought he even had scared her. Although Spencer was usually very mild mannered, she had seen him angry before and he was a bit scary. She could believe that Dr. Kimura was taken by surprise if he acted like that about the drug.

She didn't know what to do. She had very few options and she knew that if the addiction was mentioned while he was in the hospital, it would end up in the records. Although there is patient/doctor confidentiality, having that in any file could come out at sometime. She was thinking that if she could get another doctor to become the doctor of record and take him off the morphine, there would be no need to mention why he changed the meds. There would not have to be a specific reason that a doctor used a different pain medication, especially since most doctors would not use morphine for that long.

Spencer was still sleeping peacefully and unaware what was happening. She hated to leave his room, but even if he did wake up for a minute, he would be groggy and it was unlikely anyone would tell him about Dr. Blaze's medical prescription.

Chelsea hated leaving him, even for a few minutes, but she needed to get away from everyone that could hear her phone conversation if she was going to do something drastic.

#

She called Garcia first. "Technical Goddess at your service. How can I brighten your day?" she answered.

Chelsea had to smile at her greeting. Spencer had mentioned a few of her nicknames before and told her about the time Hotch had joked about having her drug tested after a phone conversation. "Hi Garcia."

"Hi My Lady Reid. How is he?" Garcia asked, "I'm sorry I can't be there with you and the boy wonder."

"I know, I wish all of today never happened." She answered shaking her head and smiling at ' My Lady Reid', "He's out of surgery, still asleep and the surgeon said it should heal nicely and eventually it will be like it was never injured."

Garcia nearly screamed, "That's great news! I had visions of him hobbling around here and I didn't like it."

"Well, he will be hobbling around for a while, but after several weeks at home, and crutches and a cane for several months, he should be like new." She said with a smile in her voice. Something about talking with Garcia just made you want to smile.

"I'm guessing you called for a reason," Garcia paused, "other than the good news of his recovery."

Chelsea sighed, "Can you do me a favor and keep it between us?" She quickly added, "It's noting illegal."

"Sure girlfriend, what do you need?"

"I'm looking for the contact information for Dr. Kimura from the CDC. Do you remember her from when Spence was sick?" Chelsea asked.

"Of course, are there some, uhh, issues from then?" Garcia was trying not to say anything that she wasn't cleared to talk about and was confused why Chelsea was looking for her.

"No, not exactly. I don't want to talk about it in the open, but there is a little bit of an issue with the surgeon's way of dealing with prescriptions and I just needed to talk to someone I know I can trust." Chelsea was vague in her wording. She knew Garcia, as well as everyone on the team, was aware of Spencer's issues, but it wasn't talked about out loud. "I probably shouldn't admit it, but I looked her up after Spencer went back to work and I know her title was something like Chief of Special Pathogens at the CDC. She had quite a few articles posted and had testified in cases for Congress several times also. She was listed as a researcher at Walter Reed. I really think she could help me with something, but I don't want to call the main CDC office." She was now feeling a bit awkward getting Garcia involved "Is there some way you could get me her direct line?"

"I trust you. If there is something you need to help Reid, I'll get you anything you want. Hold on a second." Chelsea could hear the clicking of the computer keys in the background and smiled. "OK, I managed to track down her cell phone. It's not published so don't mention how you found it."

"I won't. Thank you so much Garcia. I'm kind of crossing some boundaries here, but if I don't, I think there could be some issues."

Garcia could hear the tenseness in her voice. "Like I said, I trust you are looking out for Reid, good luck."

Chelsea thanked her again and ended the call. She looked around to make sure no one else could be listening, took a deep breath and made the call. It was now close to 11:00pm and she was afraid she was going to get voice mail. She heard a women say "Hello" and hoped she was doing the right thing.


	4. Chapter 4

When Chelsea heard a voice say hello, she froze. For the hundredth time she wondered if she was doing the right thing. She heard "Hello" a second time and replied.

"Dr. Kimura? Hi, this is Chelsea Lozano, Dr. Spencer Reid's girlfriend, well now fiancé. Do you remember me from when he was ill?"

There was a pause. Chelsea was afraid she was going to ask how she had got the number and not let her tell the reason for the call. "Is Dr. Reid OK? Is he having lung issues or headaches?"

Breathing a sigh of relief, she answered, "No, nothing like that. But he's not OK. He was shot in the knee today while working a case."

"That's not really my area of expertise." Dr. Kimura stated.

"I know. Something happened today and I'm wondering if the patient/doctor confidentiality agreement is still in effect now that you are no longer his doctor?"

"Ms. Lozano, was it?" she asked, and when Chelsea replied in the affirmative she continued. "Ms. Lozano, I thought you understood that I can not talk about anything related to Dr. Reid's illness."

Chelsea nearly cut her off, "I know. What I really want to know is how the patient/doctor confidentiality works. If I tell you of a preexisting condition that Spencer had but never told you about, is that still confidential? Can you tell anyone?"

"I don't understand." Dr. Kimura started to sound a bit annoyed and Chelsea couldn't blame her. She had just called her at 11:00 at night on a private cell phone asking odd questions.

"Spencer has a problem regarding a past illness and I was hoping you might be able to help. What I wanted to know, before I asked for your help, is if I tell you about an illness from before he was your patient, would you still keep it confidential? Even if you can't help him."

Dr Kimura thought for a moment before answering. "This is highly unusual. I suppose as long as it is something he could have told me, but it wasn't needed at the time and it was preexisting, it wouldn't be something I could talk about unless for some reason I was subpoenaed. What is it you want me to do? It must be important to you or we wouldn't be having this highly irregular conversation."

Chelsea breathed a sign of relief. Even if Dr. Kimura wasn't willing to help, she knew she had done everything in her power to try and help Spencer. And at least Dr. Kimura had agreed to not tell anyone. "Spencer just had a highly invasive knee surgery at MedStar Washington Hospital by orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Blaze…"

#

Half an hour later she was back in the room sitting next to Spencer holding his hand. Not long after she got back, he started to stir. He looked around and smiled as he saw Chelsea and squeezed her hand; whispering a weak "hi."

The nurse came in just after that to take his vitals and was glad to see him awake. "How are you feeling Dr. Reid?"

"Not bad, considering." He whispered again. "Can I have some water?"

"Of course," she found a picture and poured some water in a glass with a straw and handed it to Chelsea to help him. "Slow, small sips to start with, OK?"

He nodded, raised his head a little and took a couple of sips before laying his head back down.

The nurse finished her tasks and said, "Everything looks good. I think  
Dr. Blaze is still here and I know he would like to talk to you. I'll go see if I can find him" and she was out the door.

Chelsea leaned over and gave him a small kiss on the lips and then moved to whisper in his ear. "There has a been a lot going on that I need to tell you. I'll talk to you after the doctor leaves, but you need to know that Rossi called to tell them I am your fiancé so I can be in her with you. So if they say something you need to know that. OK?" She kissed him softly again and just as Dr. Blaze walked into the room.

"Dr. Reid, I'm glad to see you awake. I was hanging around waiting for you to wake up to speak with you about your surgery before I left for the night." He didn't wait for a response and continued, "I told you everything I planned to do before the surgery, do you remember?"

Spencer nodded so Dr. Blaze said, "Good. Everything went as planned and we had very few problems. We had some minor bleeding so it took a little longer than we originally planned, but all of your ligaments are intact and the two screws I mentioned are holding everything together for now. You will need to keep still with your leg elevated for the next 48 hours and then you can have some limited movement. I should be able to release you the next day if you have someone staying with you." He looked at Chelsea for the first time since coming in the room. "I understand that you will be going home with him?"

Chelsea nodded, "We live together, so yes I will be taking him back to our place. I work from our home, so I will stay with him." She almost felt like she was in a principal's office or an interrogation room with the way he was staring at her.

He seemed pleased with her answer, and turned back to Spencer. "You will need a few medical supplies before you can go home. A walker and crutches. A foam leg wedge to keep your leg elevated while you sleep and several other items. If you have room, renting a hospital bed for the first week will make you more comfortable also. I'll have the nurse give you a list that your fiancé can order all of it for you."

Spencer looked slightly towards Chelsea. The doctor was talking to him, asking Chelsea to take care of things for him and acting like she was not even in the room. He was very groggy and figured it was still the effects of the anesthesia, but something seemed off about the doctor's behavior. Before he could say anything else, Dr. Blaze told him to get some sleep. "Sleep is the best way to heal. The medications will help you relax and get good rest for the next couple of days. We don't want you to move very much and mess up any of my good work." He seemed awfully proud of himself.

Spencer asked, "What medicine am I on?"

"As well as a saline solution, your IV has both cefuroxime to protect you against a SSI," turning to Chelsea speaking in a condescending tone, "that is an antibiotic to protect him from Surgical Site Infections." Then looking back at Spencer he continued, " and morphine."

Trying not to sound alarmed, Spencer asked, "How long until the morphine is done? I'm sure I can handle the pain on a less potent prescription."

"Yes, I've heard your fiancé has been asking about changing your meds also. Why don't the two of you just concentrate on getting you rested and I'll worry about your recovery."

Spencer was now getting frustrated and maybe a little scared. "I am the patient and I know my pain tolerance, I'm asking you to please change my medication."

The doctor just smiled, "You are currently under the influence of a narcotic and it is not in your best interest that I follow your advice."

With that last statement, even groggy Spencer was pissed. "I do NOT want any more of the morphine!" He started to reach towards his IV to pull it out.

The doctor was calling for an orderly to restrain the patient and Chelsea was starting to panic. She wished she'd had more time to talk to Spencer before Dr. Blaze had arrived. Before Spencer could pull out the IV or the orderlies arrived, Chelsea jumped to sit on the side of the bed and pulled his had away from the IV. Leaning her head near his face she tried to look Spencer in the eyes. She said, "Stop."

Even though Chelsea had the position of leverage and he was groggy from the meds, Spencer still was stronger than she was. He started to pull back his hand, but he realized he might hurt her. Taking a breath he looked back to her face. Once she finally had his attention she said, "Do you trust me?" He didn't answer and just kept looking in her eyes. Again she asked, "Spencer, Do you trust me?"

He stopped struggling and nodded. She leaned over and whispered. "I did something. I, uh, I called someone. Don't make them restrain you. Please. I think it will be OK." She continued to plead with him until he fully relaxed.

She turned around to see Dr. Blaze, the nurse, and two orderlies, staring at them. She let go of Spencer and turned to the doctor. "As you can see, he has calmed down. I promise you he will not try that again. If he does, we know you will restrain him. Just leave and let him get some rest now."

They all looked at Dr. Blaze for his reaction. "Dr. Reid, I know you are under the influence at this time so I will let that pass, but you understand that the staff is now under orders to restrain you if you pull that stunt again."

Spencer nodded looking defeated. It broke her heart that he was in this position and she just wanted everyone to leave so she could tell him what she had done. She hoped that he wouldn't be upset that she had told someone his secret, but she couldn't see any other way to help him.


	5. Chapter 5

After Dr. Blaze had left, Chelsea told Spencer all of the conversations she'd had with the nurse and let him know she had called Dr. Kimura. Spencer didn't like that anyone else knew about his addiction, but was relieved that Chelsea had thought of her. Spencer had found Dr. Kimura to be kind and compassionate to victims and impressively thorough in her investigation into the mutated Anthrax strain. Spencer was confident that she was very logical and agreed with Chelsea that she was his best chance of getting help.

Dr. Kimura told Chelsea that she normally would not step over another doctor's recommended recovery treatment, but from Chelsea's description said she didn't agree with his treatment plan. Dr. Kimura was going to do some research and would contact Chelsea to let her know her decision. All Spencer and Chelsea could do was wait.

Spencer had calmed down. He had only been out of surgery around three hours and he had been aware that he would be given some pain medication after the surgery. After he had looked at the x-rays and talked to the surgeon, he realized that if he ever planned to have full range of motion back in his knee, he would have to have the very invasive surgery and go under a general antithetic. He also knew that while he was in recovery waking up, they would give him a strong narcotic to alleviate the pain and keep him immobile and rested.

Spencer knew the research that shows patients who use pain medication directly following surgery fare far better than those who don't. He believed he would most likely receive a shot of morphine that would last about four to six hours enabling him to rest after the surgery. It was a necessary evil and was confident that with the pain from surgery the one morphine dose would only alleviate pain, not give him a high. He then planned to refuse another dose and ask for non-narcotic pain relief. He did not want more than the one dose that could bring back the euphoria of forgetting he had felt after Georgia.

He had suffered extreme pain during his Anthrax infection and the pain when he was shot was excruciating and he had turned away all narcotics until surgery. He knew he could handle it again after the drug had worn off. When the doctor had told him that it was in his IV and would be all night, he had panicked.

#

Dr. Kimura texted Chelsea around 12:45am. Spencer was asleep and Chelsea hated to wake him up, but she wanted him to know she was going outside to call her.

Chelsea was relieved to hear that Dr. Kimura agreed to help. She had Googled Dr. Blaze and made some calls to colleagues. She had even joked with Chelsea that some of her friends she had called were annoyed that she was doing research on an orthopedic surgeon in the middle of the night. She obviously hadn't told them why she was checking him out. She admitted she was doing this because she was impressed with Reid when she had worked with him and because she did not agree with Blaze's methods.

Unfortunately, it was not going to be easy for Dr. Kimura to help. She did not have hospital privileges at MedStar Washington Hospital. The on-staff nurses would give her the courtesy of visiting one of her patients, and even look at his file, but they would not allow her to change a prescription order. In order for her to become the physician of record, he was going to need to be moved to a different hospital and Walter Reed was the most convenient.

Dr. Kimura had arranged for a bed to be available for Reid and asked Chelsea's permission to contact a private ambulance for the transfer. They needed to make sure they did not move Reid's knee and he was hooked up to both an IV and a catheter. She had warned Chelsea that insurance would probably not cover the ambulance bill and it could be as high as $1,500. Chelsea agreed. At this point she wasn't worried about the cost, they would figure it out later she just wanted Spencer away from Dr. Blaze.

#

Chelsea looked up to see Dr. Kimura walking in the room around 2:30am. Spencer had dozed off again so Chelsea stood up and walked just outside the room so they could talk without disturbing him.

Dr. Kimura told her that everything was set up and the ambulance would be there at 3:00am. She was going to go talk with the nursing staff and show them the transfer orders.

"I need to tell you that before I consented to doing this, I tried to contact Agent Hotchner. I wanted to inform him of my decision to take over Dr. Reid's case." Dr. Kimura told Chelsea. "I was surprised when I was forwarded to Agent Rossi and told that Hotch was also in the hospital."

Chelsea nodded, "It was a different case than what Spencer was working on, but the rest of the team has been busy tracking down that unsub. I didn't bother them with my issues here."

"I felt it wise to let Dr. Reid's superior know that I felt it was in his best interest if I took over his case. I wasn't going to lie, but I planned on implying that I wanted to watch out for him due to his past illness." Chelsea kept quiet wondering what Rossi had said as Dr. Kimura continued. "Agent Rossi asked how I knew about Reid's injury and I told him you had contacted me and that I was transferring him to Walter Reed immediately."

She smiled at Chelsea before saying, "He obviously trusts you which made me feel better about my decision."

Chelsea asked, "What did he say?"

"He didn't even ask why you had called me. He thanked me for keeping the Bureau informed and to call him if I needed anything. After that, I knew I had no choice but to make the arrangements for his transfer."

#

Dr. Kimura told Reid's nurse that she was taking over for Dr. Blaze and that Reid would be transferred by ambulance soon. She handed the nurse the proper paperwork and went back to see her new patient.

It was time for the IV bag to be changed and the second 6-hour dose of morphine would be administered with it. Dr. Kimura changed the order to IV ibuprofen at that time. The two nurses on duty were whispering a lot, but she had the proper paperwork and they followed the order. She also ordered a shot of a local anesthetic at the knee itself. She knew that no matter how gentle the EMTs were during the transfer, it would be a painful few hours for Dr. Reid.

#

Just as the ambulance was about to close it's doors and take Spencer to Walter Reed, Dr. Blaze arrived. He looked angry and started to yell at Dr. Kimura. She stood there and patiently waited for him to stop screaming before she calmly told him that Dr. Reid was a personal patient and she planned to attend to him. She thanked him for his excellent work on the knee reconstruction and tried to close the doors to the ambulance herself.

Dr. Blaze grabbed one of the doors and spoke directly to Reid. "I don't know the exact reason you felt the need to change doctors, but I plan to find out." He slammed the door and walk off.

Chelsea was shaken by Dr. Blaze's threats, but needed to get to her car so she took a few deep breaths and thanked Dr. Kimura again. She had wanted to ride in the ambulance with Spencer, but her car was in the parking lot and it would take a lot of time the next day to retrieve it.

Both Dr. Kimura and Chelsea walked into the entrance at Walter Reed together and Chelsea followed the doctor to where Spencer was just being lifted on to the hospital bed. Dr. Kimura arranged for a cot to be brought in the room so Chelsea could get some sleep. She realized that Chelsea wasn't planning on leaving her fiancé's side any time soon.


	6. Chapter 6

Chelsea woke up around 7:00am and saw the Spencer was smiling at her. "Morning." he said.

She smiled and said, "Good morning to you too. You look better than last night. How are you feeling?"

"I feel much better here with Dr. Kimura. Thanks to you." Smiling back at her. "It hurts like hell when I move, but just sitting here it's not bad, just a dull throbbing sensation."

Chelsea stood up, stretched and came over and gave Spencer a small kiss on the lips. "I need to get freshened up and call my mom and grandpa. They drove home from New Jersey last night, but didn't get back until after 11:00pm. I told them not to go to the hospital because visiting hours were over and I wanted to stay with and couldn't greet them. I need to call and let them know where we are before they end up at MedStar this morning looking for us."

Spencer nodded, "Good idea. I don't want them heading over there, who knows what they would tell them."

Chelsea first called her grandpa and gave him a quick recap of what had happened the night before. He was shocked at the doctor's behavior and proud how Chelsea had handled it. He told her he would call her mom and they would meet her at Walter Reed around noon.

Next Chelsea contacted Garcia to let her know where Spencer was and to find out about Foyet. Unfortunately he was in the wind, but Hotch was doing well physically. Hailey and Jack were now the presumed targets and were being taken this morning into witness protection. She felt bad for Hotch and was sorry that she wouldn't get a chance to see Hailey or Jack again, at least for a while. She had babysat Jack one time and played with him at a few team family outings.

Hotch was most likely not a target any longer since Foyet had taken the time to get him to the hospital, but he still had a protection detail on him. He would have to spend at least two weeks in the hospital and they didn't want to take any chances with his safety.

#

When Chelsea got back to the room, the nurses had just taken all of Spencer's vitals and changed his IV bag. They said that everything looked good and Dr. Kimura would most likely let him go home in a couple of days. After that he would need a couple of days of in-home nursing to make sure that Spencer could take care of himself with Chelsea's help.

Spencer didn't know how to even start to thank Chelsea. When he tried, she just told him to never get shot again because she couldn't stand to loose him. Smiling she told him that would be sufficient thanks.

Chelsea updated him on Foyet and Hotch. Spencer knew that Hotch had been dropped off at the hospital, but didn't know how badly he was injured. He was upset at the news that Foyet seemed to be planning to hurt Hotch by taking his family. He was of course sad that Hailey and Jack would be going away to be protected, but also happy that they would be safe while the team tracked Foyet down.

Chelsea wanted Spencer to get some rest, but he wasn't tired and wanted to distract his mind from the pain. She asked, "OK, what did you want to talk about?"

He answered smiling, "I think I'd like to read to you. Do you have any requests?" A few times when he came home from a case and wanted to escape his thoughts, he read from his memory to her. She told him that she loved to hear his voice and it comforted them both at times.

"Nothing to heavy and definitely nothing depressing." She said thinking, "How about The Chronicles of Narnia? You told me you read the series when you were at CalTech. I haven't read them since I was in elementary school."

"That sounds good," he said, laying back and getting comfortable. He closed his eyes and started with the first book's title, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis…" She sat in a chair with her head resting on her arms on his bed, held his hand and closed her eyes to listen.

#

Two hours later, Spencer fell asleep and Chelsea decided to rest again on the cot. Chelsea's mom and grandpa arrived around noon and visited for a while. Bob wanted to spend some time with Spencer so Chelsea and her mom went to get some lunch and stopped by the condo to pick up a few items for both Spencer and herself.

After talking a while, Bob was satisfied that Spencer did not want any narcotics. He was committed to staying sober and didn't want to disappoint Chelsea or chance losing his job. She was the most important thing in his life and after everything she had done for him in the last 24 hours he didn't care how much pain he was in, he would not ask for any narcotic. Bob wasn't going to just let it go at that, he planed to continue to communicate with him, but his head was in the right place and that made him happy.

#

Spencer was released from the hospital on Tuesday morning. On Monday, Chelsea made arrangements to rent or buy all of the necessary medical supplies for Spencer's comfort. She decided to rent a hospital bed for at least a week. She knew that even though it made the master bedroom cramped, being able to easily change his sleeping position by raising the head or foot of the bed would make him much more comfortable. She also rented a walker. With the knee brace that he had fitted at the hospital and a walker he had been able to get up and move around some without assistance. By the time he would be cleared to go back to the BAU he would only need crutches but a walker made sense for the first week home. She also purchased a shower seat to enable Spencer to have some independence cleaning himself.

Everything was ready at the condo for Spencer's homecoming. Chelsea borrowed her mom's car to take him home. Her mom's Lexus sedan had more legroom in the front seat and Chelsea hoped it would make the ride home easier. Chelsea pulled up to the front of the building and her grandpa had come down to the lobby with the walker. It was a direct route to the elevator from the front of the building and shorter than the parking garage. Charlie the security guard and Bob helped Spencer get out of the car and to the elevator.

Spencer was exhausted and in extreme pain by the time he arrived in the condo. He had taken some non-narcotic pain pills before he left the hospital, but was not able to have the local anesthetic shot in his knee. With all of the walking needed to get to his apartment the local could have masked some pain and caused some severe damage.

The in-home nurse had scheduled her first visit about an hour after Spencer had arrived home. After the nurse checked his vitals, she checked to make sure that he had all of the necessary supplies. She also gave him a few tips to help him sleep, use the restroom and shower without putting more strain on his knee. She was pleased with the setup of the apartment and that Chelsea would be home most of the time to help him when necessary. She trained both Chelsea and Spencer how to administer the local anesthetic shot. Preloaded injections were left with instructions to only use when necessary and not to use it more than three times in a 24-hour period. The nurse would be back the next day to again check his vitals and answer any questions that arose during the night.


	7. Chapter 7

Rossi came by one morning early to visit Reid before work. He had called Dr. Kimura earlier to ask if insurance would be an issue with the change of hospital and doctor after surgery. She told Rossi that the only problem would be some of the non-required items that Chelsea had rented or purchased for home use and the biggest out of pocket expense would be the private ambulance service. Most people didn't need to be transported between hospitals in the middle of the night and it most likely would not be covered.

Rossi hugged Chelsea good morning and accepted a cup of coffee from her. She had the feeling he wanted to talk to Spencer alone so she excused herself to go take a shower.

Rossi filled Reid in on everything at the office. They had exhausted every lead looking for Foyet, but there was no sign of him. They had to start helping form profiles for other agencies and be ready to go on a case if one came up. Garcia had constant searches for him running in the background of her system, but not one single lead so far. "Garcia is getting very frustrated. You know she puts all her faith into her searches finding someone and she is angry that Hailey and Jack had to go away because of this one guy."

Spencer nodded, "I can imagine. I bet she has been working a lot of unpaid overtime changing the parameters of her searches." Rossi nodded as Spencer continued, "Foyet is smart. He won't be easy to find, but if he can't get to Hailey and Jack, he will try something else to get Hotch's attention and we will be able to find him then. I just hate that we need to have more victims in the process. There is no telling where he will strike."

"Morgan and I have had almost the same conversation with Strauss. She is willing to help find him and put up Bureau funds to catch him, but only if we have something concrete to go on."

Spencer was shocked. "She's willing to help?"

"Only because his escape looks bad on the team. She knows it wasn't our fault that he was able to escape. He had all of the prison floor plans and an escape plan worked out, but she doesn't care that it wasn't our fault, only that the press made it seem like it was our fault. She can't have the agency looking bad so she's willing to help, but ONLY if we have a lead. Which we don't, so it doesn't really matter if she is willing to help or not."

Sighing, Spencer said, "and the only way we will get a lead is if he comes out of hiding to kill someone. Not the way we would like this to play out."

Rossi nodded, "We do know he WILL make a mistake. We just can't let our guards down until then."

Rossi changed the subject and asked how he was doing. He knew that he was healing and he would soon be starting the physical therapy potion of his recovery. He wanted to know about his other issues. "Dr. Kimura called me the night you were shot to keep the Bureau informed of your change of hospital. We are typically notified when an agent is admitted or released. Sometimes it takes 24 or more hours for the notification, but I think she wanted us to know since it was odd to have happened in the middle of the night. I never asked her why Chelsea had called her, but I had a feeling it had to do with your case in Georgia?"

Rossi knew about the kidnapping case soon after he started back with the BAU, but didn't hear about Spencer's addiction until he admitted it to him after he had been clean for over 10 months. Even though Rossi had not been there during his worst behavior, he had become an integral part of the team and felt that if he was apologizing to everyone, he should also tell Rossi. Since his announcement to each team member, most have never spoken of it again. Hotch had used the cover 'going to a movie' before, Morgan had told him to talk to him if he ever needed it, and he told the team about Bob several months ago. He was surprised that Rossi was bringing it up now.

After Spencer nodded, Rossi asked, "I really wanted to make sure that everything was OK. I don't think that Chelsea would have called Dr. Kimura and changed hospitals in the middle of the night if it weren't something important. I'm just making sure everything really is all right?"

"Yes, everything is fine. My surgeon had prescribed morphine for 48 hours when I was asleep and Chelsea did everything she could to change the orders. When she wasn't able to, she called Dr. Kimura for help. You know the rest."

Rossi seemed content with the answer and nodded. "I talked to Dr Kimura again yesterday, just routine, but I did ask if she thought insurance would give you any problems with all the changes. The only big expense she felt wouldn't be covered was the ambulance transfer."

Spencer nodded, "Chelsea knew about that before she ordered the ambulance. She was willing to pay for it, although I'm going to pay for it myself, but she gave OK for the fee that night. She knew I needed to get out of there."

"She's a keeper, kid." Rossi found himself saying. Even though he was taken aback and slightly annoyed by Reid when he first came back to the BAU, he now had a soft spot for him and felt almost a fatherly feeling towards him. He knew it wasn't the same type of relationship Reid had maintained with Gideon, but they still had a good family like connection.

Spencer just smiled at the man's comment. That was an understatement if he's ever heard one. Rossi continued, "I'd like to pick up that ambulance bill when it some in." Spencer started to protest, "No, if everything had not been crazy that day, the whole team would have been there and Chelsea wouldn't have had to make all of those calls on her own." When he saw Reid was still shaking his head no, he said, "Think of it as an early engagement present."

"What? I'm not engaged." Spencer squeaked.

"Don't tell me you haven't thought about it." Rossi countered.

Spencer was silent. He knew no matter what he said it wouldn't be correct. He had thought a lot about asking Chelsea to marry him, but he couldn't figure out why she'd want to. He didn't feel he had anything to give her and after all she had done just to keep him clean proved to him again that he was more trouble than good for her.

Rossi could see his mind working and just shook his head. "I know you don't want to take romantic advise from a guy with three exes, but she loves you, I shouldn't have to lie to the hospital just so she can visit you. And if something had happened to you, she would have no official say in your arrangements, no life insurance and no way to help your mom."

Rossi wouldn't let up. "I'm the first to admit our business is hard on relationships. You are surrounded by divorce, but she knows what she is getting into. She is not going into this unprepared. She loves you, enough to push everyone around to get you the help you needed last week. After everything that happened recently, you have to know that she isn't going anywhere."

Spencer consented to that thought, "I know she isn't going to leave, but I can't understand why she would want to marry me. This job has horrible hours, I've been in the hospital twice since we've been dating and that has only been seven months, two weeks and..,"

Rossi cut him off before he could give an exact count. "The length of time isn't what matters. It's what you both feel."

Spencer was still unsure, "But my, ah, other issues." Still not wanting to talk about everything out loud, "I'm not the best choice as husband material. Look at what my own dad did."

"You are nothing like your dad, Spencer. You would never walk away from any responsibility, family or friend." Rossi sighed, "I'm not telling you to do it today, hell you can't even get down on one knee at the moment" he laughed amused at his own joke, "but tell me you will think about it."

"I already have been." Spencer admitted.

"Good. That's all I'm asking." He said putting his hand on Spencer's shoulder and turning around just in time to see Chelsea coming back into the living area.


	8. Chapter 8

Spencer had been back at the condo for more than a week and Chelsea's grandpa was coming over to visit again. He had come over the first day Spencer had been home, and several days later. He continued to talk to Spencer about any lingering effects the narcotics had on him, but he also just enjoyed his company.

Since Spencer had been home, he and Chelsea spent a lot of time talking about different things, but he was sure to let Chelsea know that he had not had any cravings the way he used to when he needed to escape. There had been a few times that the pain had been bad enough he felt himself wanting something stronger, but fortunately, the combination of medicines Dr. Kimura had prescribed had taken the most painful edge off. Chelsea hated to see him in pain and she made sure he took the maximum dosage he could of the non-narcotic pain relievers.

The nurse was scheduled for the first two days and then her last visit was 3 days later. She had made sure that Chelsea was able to clean the wound, change the dressing and administer a local anesthetic shot before she signed off for her final visit. Spencer was scheduled to see Dr. Kimura the following Monday and she would start the schedule for the intense physical therapy needed to rehabilitate his knee. She would have liked to start the therapy a week earlier, but didn't think it would be wise with his medicine limitations. He would have to have 2 weeks of therapy and pass a psych evaluation before he could be allowed to go back to work. It would be several weeks more before he was cleared for field duty.

Bob was coming over to spend some time alone with Spencer and play some chess. Chelsea thought it would be a perfect time to visit Hotch. She had not seen him since before the pig farm case. The rest of the team had been by either the hospital or the condo to visit with Spencer. Morgan stepped up as temporary leader and Agent Anderson was helping when needed. Foyet was still an open case, but with no new leads the team was working on profiles on other cases. They had not been sent out on a case since going to Canada.

#

Chelsea showed her ID to the large menacing looking cop stationed outside of the Hotch's room. She had stopped by Starbucks on the way and picked up a cup of coffee for both herself and Hotch. After checking her ID he wanted to look in both cups. Hotch heard Chelsea giggling and say "Really? You're seriously checking coffee? Are you planning to stick your fingers in it also?" After spending most of her life around DC cops, the large man did not intimidate her, she just found his over zealousness amusing.

From inside the room Hotch raised his voice, "Sgt. Cooper! It's OK. Chelsea can come in with whatever she is carrying. I trust her."

As Chelsea walked in the room she was laughing as she handed him a cup. "I asked Spencer how you take it. I thought you might want a late afternoon pick-me-up. I'm guessing the coffee around here sucks."

"Sorry about that," he said nodding towards the door, "He's been taking my safety very seriously. Thanks for the coffee,"

"So Foyet runs free and you are incarcerated in a hospital room?" Chelsea decided that humor was better than pity.

"Seems like it." He said shaking his head. "The only good thing is I have a private room. If it wasn't for Cooper out there, I'd probably be sharing the room with some snoring sick guy."

"So when do you get your parole?" she asked continuing the banter.

"They are letting me make a break for it tomorrow, but unfortunately, I'm getting stuck in a retirement home for a couple of weeks."

Now Chelsea was confused, "Huh? A retirement home?"

"Well the doctor is calling it a rehab center, but because of my personal prison guard issues I am limited on the facilities that are willing to take me and the only rehab place within 10 miles of here has an average age occupancy of 80 years."

Chelsea didn't mean to laugh, but the thought of authoritarian Hotch stuck in a place like that for 2 weeks brought up visions of nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. "Sorry. I really don't mean to laugh at your situation."

"It's OK. If I didn't laugh, I'd probably shoot someone. That is if they would actually let me have my gun," he said with a grin.

"Seriously, can't you stay at home with in-home care?" Chelsea asked.

"The doctor says that I can't live alone. I can take care of myself physically, but I'm not allowed to bend over or pick up anything over 10 pounds. My insurance won't cover full time care and my doctor doesn't believe I'd behave myself and not cook and clean if I went home. My stitches look bad from the outside, but I guess my insides are even worse. Bending could pull some of them out and cause internal bleeding. Plus my townhouse has multiple entries and the MPDC can't afford to have all of my entrances covered."

"Maybe you can clone Sgt. Cooper out there." Chelsea said sarcastically. "Having several of him around would make for a wonderful day." Hotch just shook his head at her.

They visited for a while. Hotch and Spencer had talked a couple of times on the phone, but because both had limited movement, they had not seen each other. Chelsea told him that Spencer was doing well and that both he and her grandpa had told her to say hi and hoped he was feeling well.

Just as Chelsea was planning to leave she had an idea. "Hotch, this might sound crazy," she paused. "But what would you think about moving into Spence and my guestroom instead of the rehab center?"

"No. That's OK. I wouldn't want to put you two out."

Chelsea didn't really listen. She was thinking things through. "I understand that living with Spencer and me for a couple of weeks isn't on your bucket list, but it makes sense. You said you can physically take care of yourself, but are not allowed to do household chores. Our guest room is larger than this room, has a door lock for privacy, and has a flat screen TV with cable, Netflix and a DVR. Plus there is a full bath with a tub and shower that is also private if you lock the second door to the office from the inside."

Hotch was watching her as she was thinking out loud. He didn't want to impose on her and she was correct about never planning to live with Reid.

She continued, "My apartment is on the 5th floor of a security building with a guard in the lobby and has only one door when you get off the elevator. I obviously have no aversion to guns and you could sleep with yours under your pillow if you felt like it. There wouldn't need to be a cop stationed outside. You would be armed, Spencer is armed and I'm a great shot if it came down to it." She was on a roll with all the reasons that it made sense for him to stay. "There are no visiting hours or issues with late night visitors or phone calls. If Morgan or Rossi wanted your input on a case they could come by or call without disturbing anyone. I'm home everyday making 3 meals for Spencer and myself, one more wouldn't make a difference. I have a cleaning service that comes by once a week to clean, but I can wash your towels or clean up anything if you happen to spill something." Looking at him, "Doctor's orders to not bend over and pick up stuff, right?"

He nodded. He was surprised at all of the reasons that she was giving for him to stay. He realized it was sounding pretty good as apposed to the rehab center.

"Spencer has a physical therapist at home twice a week and we could set up the same person for you as well. If necessary, a MPDC officer can come and search the poor guy at the scheduled time. Did I miss any good reasons?" She ended smiling.

"I really wouldn't want to inconvenience you and it is now Spencer's place also. Don't you think you should check with him before you make an offer like this."

She nodded, "I know what he would say. He's even more logical than me and this is the logical solution. Your team has always been like a family and you staying in a facility like you described doesn't sound like a great option. This way your team can visit you easily around their long hours or a case. But if it would make you feel better, I'll talk to him when I get home." She looked at him, "Tell me you'll think about it."

He nodded, "I will. That is a very generous offer Chelsea, and I will think about it, but only if you ask Spencer and don't bully him into something because I'm his boss."

"I won't," she said, "it's only for two weeks, we are not looking for a permanent roommate. I'll talk to you soon." She waved to first Hotch and then to Sgt. Cooper saying, "Keep up the good work," grinning as she walked by him.

#

As she was leaving the hospital, she ran into Rossi, Morgan and Prentiss. They had just come from the BAU and were headed up to visit Hotch. She knew that Garcia had already been there recently with all of the balloons and stuffed animals lying around.

"Hi, guys." She said as she hugged them all. They asked about Spencer and chatted for a few minutes. Chelsea told them about her idea for Hotch to stay in the guestroom for the next two weeks.

Morgan of course spoke first. "Hotch living with Reid, that I'd pay to see."

Chelsea playfully hit him, "That's my boyfriend you're talking about."

"Sorry," he said as he backed away rubbing his arm pretending that she had hit him hard.

Rossi, the more practical one said. "That actually sounds like a good idea, of course that is if you and Spencer are OK with it. Your building is secure and I've seen your guest room. It is much nicer that the rehab place they have him assigned to."

"I haven't asked Spencer yet, but as logical as he is, I'm sure he will think that it is smart also." Laughing, she said, "I told Hotch he could sleep with his gun under his pillow if he wanted. He seemed annoyed that he wasn't able to have it here with him in the hospital." Everyone laughed at that. "All of you could come and visit him anytime you wanted. If you wanted a consult on a case or you just wanted to drop by some night, I don't have visiting hours."

Prentiss asked, "Did he agree?"

"He said he'd think about it. But only if I asked Spencer first since it is his place too."

Morgan had now stopped teasing and agreed that it sounded like a good plan. "Let us know what Spencer says. We may still be here and talk to him about it."

Chelsea agreed and they went there separate ways.

#

Chelsea stopped to pick up some Chinese takeout for dinner. She had called and her grandpa agreed to stay. When she got back to the apartment she told them both about her offer to Hotch. Spencer agreed that it was a reasonable idea, but was a bit worried that Hotch would get tired of talking to him. "I know he is fond of me, but only in small doses."

Chelsea smiled, "Well, he would be a guest so that would be his problem, but I don't really think that will be an issue. He was worried you would only say yes because he was your boss and would feel pressure to please him."

"No, we are both on leave and technically he is not my boss so that isn't really an issue. Are you sure you are OK with this? You were living alone less than a year ago and now you will have two people here that can't even take full care of themselves."

"Neither of you are invalids, I'm not going to be a full time care giver. Making meals, or ordering takeout for one more person isn't a bid deal. Plus it is only for about two weeks. It will make it easier on the rest of the team to get to visit you both at the same time too." Chelsea smiled, "Sounds like we've made a decision. I'll call and tell Rossi. He's probably still at the hospital. What do you think about having everyone over for dinner tomorrow night if they are still in town?"

Chelsea called Rossi and told him the news. He said he would work out the necessary arrangements and as long as he wasn't pulled out of town, he would help Hotch with the move. He would go by Hotch's place tonight to pick up some clothes and necessities for him.


	9. Chapter 9

The move went smoothly. Rossi had taken a personal day from work and made sure that Hotch had everything he needed for a couple of weeks. Chelsea helped him get settled and made sure he knew where everything was.

Chelsea had figured Hotch would spend much of his time in his room with the TV and his laptop, but was happily surprised that he felt comfortable out in the living area. Some evenings he would go to his room to watch a movie and give the couple some alone time, but most days he stayed in the dinning room. He and Spencer talked occasionally, but mostly Hotch read the newspaper, used his laptop or read books at the other end of the table than where Chelsea worked. He was enjoying the view and the windows didn't make him feel as claustrophobic. Foyet seemed to be out of the picture for now and Hotch wasn't under constant police protection any longer, but no one wanted him outside where he could be in harms way until he was completely healed. As long as he had to be inside, the windows made him feel less like a prisoner.

The team had been sent to Nebraska to look into a child abduction case. Two young boys had been sexually assaulted and their bodies dumped in dried up riverbeds. The first body had been found 3 weeks before and a second body last week. As soon as a third victim matching the same description had been reported missing, the Lincoln Police had contacted the BAU for help.

Garcia had set up an online conference call with the team on the jet and patched Hotch and Spencer in as well. She faxed case files to Chelsea's machine and the guys were able to help work on a profile unofficially from the dining room. Although over hearing some of the details of the pedophile made her ill, seeing both the guys feeling useful helping on the case made her smile. The team was gone four days and kept both Hotch and Spencer informed of all progress. On the jet home, they all planned to come over and have dinner with Chelsea and the guys to celebrate the end of the case.

#

One day about a week after Hotch had been at the condo, Hotch came out of his room about 8:30am just in time to see Bob and Spencer leaving the apartment.

"Good morning Hotch." Chelsea said cheerfully. "I made pancakes for Spencer and Grandpa this morning, are you interested in some? I still have all of the stuff out."

"If it's not too much trouble, that sounds great." Hotch replied. Nodding towards the door "Where are they headed so early?"

"Spencer starts his aqua-therapy this morning. His physical therapist wants to see his range of motion and felt that he could benefit from being in a pool. Grandpa wanted to spend some time with Spencer and if he had difficulty getting his swim trunks on and off with his knee, Grandpa would be able to go into the men's locker room to help him. I don't think the other pool patrons would appreciate my presence in their locker room." Chelsea laughed as she handed Hotch a cup of coffee and started to pour some batter on the griddle.

Hotch smiled, "Probably not. Your grandpa really loves Reid, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, he thinks of him as a son or maybe grandson. He thought that long before he set us up on the blind date. I even joked about it when Spence and I almost broke up back in February."

"You almost broke up? I never heard that, but I guess that was before we even knew you were together." Hotch paused sounding confused, "You were joking about breaking up?"

"Well, it was a nervous joke, better than crying in front of him. It worked out, but that night I was upset. I joked with him that if we didn't end up together, my grandpa would officially adopt him and he would end up my uncle."

Hotch had to laugh at that. "I think your grandpa might really have tried that. I'm glad that he is in Spencer's life. He's had a lot of important people leave him and having him trust in both you and your grandpa makes him more comfortable with himself and really better at his job. I started to notice a difference in him last year. I didn't know at the time what it was, but now I know it was around the time that he started spending time with your grandpa."

Chelsea nodded and handed Hotch a plate of food. Hotch thanked her and Chelsea changed the subject. "You know what's crazy? I think I'm more confident with Spencer going back in the field now than I was before. It seems weird. I should be freaked out. He was shot in the line of duty and of course I'm scared for his safety, but after hearing everything that happened that day, I know that this is the place he needs to be."

Hotch started to say something, but he realized that Chelsea was still deep in thought.

"I know you weren't involved in the case because Foyet had abducted you before JJ got the call, but I'm sure you know the story now." She paused long enough for Hotch to nod. "I was really upset that morning when he got the early call that they had a case. He had just been home for a few hours and you were all supposed to have the three day weekend off after that horrible pig farm case." Again Hotch nodded understanding that Chelsea wasn't looking for an answer.

Looking at Hotch, she asked, "Did you know that I had a long conversation with Dr. Barton at the hospital?" Hotch shook his head. "About a half hour into the conversation I thought of you. I realized that if you woke up in the hospital and realized that one of your agent's girlfriends was talking to a victim that was involved in getting the agent shot, you would have probably crawled out of the hospital to get a taxi and come and separate us."

They both laughed and Hotch said, "I don't know if I would have gone THAT far, but I would have called the hospital security and asked them to find a way to separate you. It's not protocol for a relative of an agent to talk with a victim and there is no way to know how someone would react after the agent was shot."

"That's what I realized after I had talked to Dr. Barton for a while. It never occurred to me to be upset at him, but after he had apologized to me several times, I realized HE thought it was his fault and it made me think of your reaction to our conversation. Dave knew I had some contact with him, so he either was too busy worrying about you, Haley and Jack, or didn't realize I would have a long conversation with him, or just had profiled me enough to understand I wouldn't be upset."

Hotch nodded, "Maybe a little of all of that. It was hectic and stressful at the time. What did you say to him when he told you it was his fault?"

She could tell he was curious how the conversation had gone now that he was aware if it. "I told him that I knew Spencer didn't blame him, because I didn't blame him. I remember my dad's partner Tony second guessing himself on what he could have done differently when my dad was killed. I was young and took him seriously asking him if he could have done something why didn't he. He told me that there wasn't anything he could have done, but he was feeling guilty about that. I didn't really understand, but he told me that this was only the shooter's fault. He said there were going to be days that I was angry at my dad for leaving me, but remember that it wasn't his choice only Stan Douglas was to blame."

She seemed a million miles away when she continued, "He was right, sometimes I was angry, but since my mom was angry enough for both of us I put my energy into school. I knew that was what my dad would have wanted and I didn't know what else to do. Grandpa and I talked about it years later and we both think that my blunt but innocent question made Tony realize he couldn't have done anything different. It wasn't his fault, but he wanted so badly to change the outcome of that day he wished he could have changed it. I know now it was just a case of survivor's guilt and I saw the same thing in Dr. Barton." She shrugged as her voice trailed off with the last few words.

Hotch guided the conversation in a different direction, "How did Dave know you had contact with Dr. Barton?"

Chelsea smiled, "You know Dave contacted the hospital and told them that I was coming, right?" Hotch nodded again. "He lied and told them I was Spencer's fiancé so they would let me see him. When Dr. Barton came up to me in the waiting room and asked if I was Dr. Reid's fiancé I freaked out a little. No one knew about that lie, except Dave and the hospital staff. I excused myself to go to the ladies room. I had seen photos of Foyet before, but in my state, I couldn't remember what he looked like or if he might have someone else he worked with. I wasn't sure if he had decided to terrorize Spencer now because you were in the hospital. I snapped a photo of him on my phone and sent it to Dave to ask him if he knew who he was. Dave replied so I came out and talked to him."

Hotch replied, "That was smart of you to find out with everything going on. So Dr. Barton apologizing for getting Spencer shot made you more comfortable with his job? I don't understand."

"Neither do I, really. But it made me realize that he really is good at his job and it is where he belongs. I don't ever get the whole story of a case. I know when you come home and you put the bad guys behind bars and I'm always happy that you give past victims' closure on the deaths of their family members, but I really don't hear how Spencer himself helped with the case. I understand that it is a team effort and Spencer is a part of that team, but he never really tells me his part in solving a case."

Hotch sighed, "Most cases aren't classified, but once we are home we don't really want to dwell on what we saw. I never told Haley anything about my work and now looking back that might have been the wrong way to deal with it. I really wanted to keep my home life and my work life separate, but many times when I came home I was still upset from what I'd seen. I refused to tell Haley anything, and she felt helpless when I wouldn't talk to her about why I was distant. You've lived with law enforcement family and friends and I know Spencer doesn't feel a need to hide anything from you, but he also doesn't want to relive all of the cases."

"Yeah, he sometimes he will tell me how you found and saved a victim and I always ask how many past victims there were, but mostly we don't talk about any details. I know with his memory, he can't forget any of it, but at least he can be distracted with everyday things. Plus he knows I will listen and understand when he does want to talk about it. The night you came home from the pig farm, I knew it was bad. All he would say was 'Big, Bad and Bloody.' He wouldn't even tell me how many victims there were. I hadn't seen him that physically bothered by any case like that before. I read about the case on the Internet and understand why it made him physically ill."

Hotch agreed, "We've seen more brutal slayings and cases with children are always the biggest heartache, but that pig farm with almost 100 victims was the biggest loss of life we have ever seen. I think everyone on the team had nightmares after that case. Most of the victims were homeless and I don't think they have still identified most of them and probably never will. Morgan and Reid were the most affected. I know Morgan took it personally that the police didn't seem to care. That was not really true because they are undermanned and missing homeless people doesn't usually equate to a serial murderer, but it hit him hard. And Reid knows that most of the victims probably had some type of mental illness and worries what would happen to his mother if something happened to him and he couldn't support Bennington."

Nodding Chelsea said, "I know it was difficult for him and he really hasn't talked about it since then, but so much happened the next day, we haven't even brought it up again."

Getting back to the original subject, Hotch asked, "I still am not clear on why you are more comfortable with Reid going on cases now."

Chelsea looked thoughtful, "I'm not sure exactly. It's definitely NOT because he was shot," she laughed. "With Spencer home recently we have been talking a lot," looking at Hotch, "not all about work. You know I have lived with and or been close with a lot of cops for my entire life. My best friend John is a training officer in DC. Every time he goes out on the street it is dangerous. He could pull over someone for a traffic violation and could have a gun pulled on him, getting called on domestic violence cases are always scary and there are calls for armed robbery of convenience stores or homes almost daily in some part of DC."

Hotch was nodding and trying to figure out where this was going. "There are so many dangers, that you just have to have faith in your friend and his backup. You can completely go crazy if you think about it all of the time." She paused again to figure out how to continue. "I never really worry while you are at the BAU, sitting at a desk is rarely fatal." She laughed and so did Hotch. "Of course there are always rare occasions that you can be in danger there also, but I'm not going to go looking for trouble as they say. But as soon as I get a text that you are all headed out to someplace to chase someone so horrible that it needs your team to catch them, I start to worry. And I don't really stop until your feet are back on the tarmac."

Continuing, "Spencer and I talked a lot about this case because I already knew most of what had happened from Dr. Barton. We talked about how most cases are spent working on profiles both of the victims and the unsubs. Although going to visit a witness can lead to danger," she again looked straight at Hotch, "I'm thinking about Spencer and JJ's visit to the Hankle house, but that is a very unusual situation. Spencer started giving me statistics of the percentage of time that you guys are actually chasing a subject with weapons drawn during a case. I don't remember all the numbers." Hotch laughed at that assuming that Reid had rattled of tons of different statistics, "but it seems that a lot of the time when you are away you are at crime scenes, the morgue, talking to witnesses and victims and working on profiles including geographical ones, not really in the line of fire."

Smiling at Hotch, "Obviously, he hasn't gone on any cases since then, but I really think that I will be less worried in the future. At least think I will. I'll never NOT be worried. I'm glad to have a better understanding of what it is he really does on a case."

Hotch finished up his breakfast, "I'm glad you both have had a chance to talk. This job is difficult on relationships and looking back there are a lot of things I would have done differently with Haley." Chelsea decided not to interrupt his thoughts, "I still would not have quit my job, but I should have talked to her more. If we had a good line of communication, maybe things would have been different. You and Reid have a much better chance, both because of your background, but also because you seem to talk and be honest with each other. Make sure you keep that."

He took his plate to the kitchen and placed it in the sink. He had tried to place plates in the dishwasher before, but Chelsea had reprimanded him for bending over so he now always placed his dirty dishes in the sink. As he refilled his coffee cup he said, "Thanks that was really good. I really appreciate you letting me stay here; I can't imagine how depressing that facility would have been. I'm going to go back to my room and get showered and changed," as he walked towards the guestroom.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I always hated that no one cared that Reid was injured; that's the main reason I started all of these stories. But I realized that Reid wasn't the only one that had no one to go home to after surgery. With Hailey and Jack in witness protection, Hotch would be in a similar situation. He wouldn't be able to go home by himself and as far as I know, has no other family except a brother in NY.

They are like a family and with Chelsea around to help, both Reid and Hotch have a place to stay while they recover from their wounds.


	10. Chapter 10

Monday, August 17th Spencer was cleared to go back to the BAU. He had not been cleared for active duty but was glad to be back at work even if it was just at his desk. He loved spending time with Chelsea and they had become much closer over the last month, but he was ready to get his normal life back.

The day before, Hotch was able to go back to his own townhouse. The doctor had cleared him for living alone, but not yet back to the BAU. With no sign of Foyet since the stabbing, the FBI and MPDC had pulled his protection detail and he was starting to get back to his typical routine. He kept in contact with the US Marshall that was protecting Hailey and Jack and knew that they were settled in wherever they were and Jack was getting ready to start a new preschool.

The team was sent to Prescott, Arizona on August 31st. Spencer worked the case with Garcia from Quantico and was glad he didn't have to work in the blazing desert sun on crutches. He was starting to get used to them, but it still took effort to get around the office.

Morgan was bitching about the heat, not only because it made him miserable, but also because the bodies were dumped outside and were decomposing quickly. A group of hikers had found the five bodies. Desert scavengers were destroying evidence on and around the bodies making their identification extremely difficult. The coroner placed the time of death of the first victim three weeks ago and the other victims were dumped approximately every four days. The latest girl appeared to be dumped the day they arrived.

The case was violent, the unsub not only was a sexual sadist, torturing and raping the victims, but they found evidence that he continued to rape them after death. There also was a small heart carved on each of the victim's inner thighs that the coroner said was done postmortem. They had never seen a serial sexual sadist that also was a necrophiliac.

The victims were tortured for at least 24 hours before they were asphyxiated. There was no way to tell how long he had kept the four first victims after death, but the latest victim had been dead less than 24 hours before her body was found. They didn't have enough data on the victims or the unsub yet to form a profile but the unsub probably already had his next victim picked out or he even have taken her already.

Garcia was combing through missing persons reports to help identify the five victims as well as trying to find information on the unsub. She started with local searches of murders locally within 15 years and then broadened her search to nation wide. No crimes matching this unusual signature were found anywhere.

Spencer had Garcia change the search. He asked her to look into reports of that heart carving signature on dead women that were not murdered. Garcia was on it quickly, but then asked him why.

"What if there are two unsubs?" Spencer asked. "The first one the sexual sadist and the other one disposing of the bodies. That would give the second unsub an endless supply to perform his fetish."

"That makes sense, but YUCK. Two pervs running around Prescott, I'm glad I'm safe in my cave here in Quantico."

Spencer looked like he was about to start rambling and Garcia continued, "Don't you dare try and tell me how many pervs are running around the Quantico or DC area." Spencer pursed his lips in a guilty manner and said nothing.

A few minutes later, Garcia yelled "Bingo!" breaking the silence. "You were right, my young genius, there have been reports of our necrophiliac buddy carving hearts in young girls in Utah, New Mexico and California over the last two years. This is the first report from Arizona. He must like the desert." Pausing she said, "Ewwww."

"What?" Spencer asked. He wasn't sure what would cause that reaction, they were already looking for a guy that was carving up and having sex with dead bodies.

"I have all of the crime photos. They were already buried he dug them up…" she answered. "Here are the photos, I'm not looking at them." She turned her head so Spencer could see them.

They called the team to fill them in on what they found. Prentiss asked, "Is there a particular type of women this guy went after?"

"No, the race, age and body type are all over the map." Reid explained.

Garcia followed up with "This guy seems to be an equal opportunity deviant, right wonder boy?" Reid just gave her a weird look and said nothing.

Rossi told them that the coroner was able to determine that all of the recent five victims were fair skinned, light eyed, 20 to 25 year olds with light brown hair. "It seems our sadist has a type and our necrophiliac is more of an opportunist."

Morgan asked, "Baby girl, any luck with the missings? Were you able to find out who any of the victims might be?"

"My babies are working on the search right now." Garcia sighed, "You'd be surprised how many girls go missing each year. I'll update the search with the details you gave me about the victims and I should be able to narrow it down for you. Hopefully I'll be able to tell you if our guy has another girl yet."

"Good work guys." Morgan said. "Garcia, set up another search to see if there have been any other victims matching our unsub's type and method of death. Plus lists of missing girls with that description that are still missing. He could have disposed of the bodies somewhere they were never found."

"On it," was Garcia's simple reply.

Morgan continued, "Let's all take a break to get some food and then regroup in an hour. Maybe Garcia's searches will give us some info to make a better profile."

#

When they regrouped, they all worked on the profiles of both unsubs. It wasn't clear if they had joined to work as a team or if they were just using each other. Garcia's search had found reports of missing girls starting back from 2004 in different cities all over the western US.

Mass graves with ten girls that were tortured, raped repeatedly, asphyxiated and dumped together went missing in 2004 in Arlington, Texas, 2005 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and 2007 in San Jose, California. The girls that had been identified had all gone missing within a six-week period starting the last week of July each year. The bodies had not been found for either months and in one case three years later so some of the victims remained Jane Does.

There were also missing report of girls that matched the profile in other years. In 2006 there were 12 missings in Reno, Nevada and in 2008 14 girls that matched that description went missing in Portland, Oregon.

Hotch had been brought up to speed and was on the conference call stated, "Unfortunately, girls go missing all of the time without a trace, so it is likely that only 10 of the missings Garcia found in Reno and Portland are this unsub's victims. The others could be anywhere. Until they find a dump site, we won't know for sure."

Reid spoke up, "After the search turned up this information, I had Garcia contact the authorities in both Reno and Portland to let them know what we believe happened to many of the girls. We sent them the parameters of the past dump sites, but they haven't been consistent except for very remote areas so I don't know if it will help them at all. We also contacted all of the other city departments and asked them to send all details on the cases to us."

Rossi said, "Good. Forward any information you get to Detective Brown here. He's the lead detective and will make sure we get it. This is the first time the dump site has been found before he finished."

"We have five bodies and he most likely has his next victim already." JJ said sadly, "if he follows the same pattern we have two days until the body will be dumped."

Prentiss finished her thought, "He will want four more victims and I don't think our presence here will change that."

"JJ, go to the media and get out a warning to all women that fit the description. We need to limit his victim pool. That may make him make a mistake." Morgan said nodding. "We have enough to give a profile now. We need to tell everyone about both unsubs, but we should have them concentrate on locating the necrophiliac. If he is the one that dumped the bodies, he will be out looking for a new location."

"I agree," Hotch said from home, "he's never been caught, but he has never been sought after for murder. He may be nervous from all of the media attention and be the weak link."

Before they hung up, Reid spoke up. "Wait. Why did this guy all of a sudden need to have someone else dispose of his bodies? As far as we can tell, he was capable in past years. Or at least they were not disposed of by our current unsub number two."

Prentiss asked, "What are you thinking Reid? That this guy has some time of physically disability that he isn't able to go out in the desert himself?"

"Maybe." Reid said thoughtfully. "It doesn't make sense that only now he has a partner, unless something happened to him recently. No bodies have been found from last year yet, so we don't have any evidence from then. But before that nothing points to a second unsub involvement."

Rossi said. "That could be another piece of our first unsub's profile. If he does have some type of disability, how is he getting his victims? Grabbing women doesn't fit in the necropphiliac profile."

Morgan was thinking out loud, "Maybe what ever ruse he uses to grab the women doesn't need physical strength. Or he has a prosthetic limb. Or he found an old friend and decided to let him have his way with the girls after he was done. I don't know and we need more info, but Reid's right something has changed."

#

Standing in front of the department to give the profile Morgan addressed the group first. "We now know that there are two different unsubs, or unknown subjects, working together here in Prescott. To make our comments clear as we give you the profile, we will talk about them as 'Unsub Number 1' the sexual sadist that takes, tortures and suffocates the women, and 'Unsub Number 2' the necrophiliac that carves the heart on the body and disposes of their bodies."

Rossi started the profile, "Unsub Number 1 has been doing this since 2004. All of the girls have a similar look and probably represent someone that either is or was in his life. He is using these girls as substitutes. Something happened that caused him to kill 10 women in July of 2004 and every year since then. Hopefully we can figure out what happened as the stressor or why these women fill some type of fantasy for him."

A voice from the crowd "What fantasy?"

Prentiss picked it up from there. "We don't know yet, but he is picking the same type of women over and over. He takes 10 in around a six-week period and dumps the bodies in a rarely traveled, out of the way location. It has been in either a heavily wooded area like in Colorado or in a secluded part of the desert like here. This is the first time the bodies have been found before he finished his mission."

"What mission?" someone asked.

"When we figure that out, we will find him." Rossi explained. "In the meantime we will try and warn as many women as we can with the help of the media. There have been no bodies found in Portland as of yet. We gave the local police an idea where they may look, but there are thousands of acres of forests there, they may never be found."

Rossi paused for everyone to take some notes. "In years' prior, where the bodies have been found, there was no evidence of anything done to the victims after death. That tells us that Unsub Number 1 has no use for the bodies, but it doesn't tell us why he suddenly changed his MO and is letting someone else dispose of the bodies. It may be a recent physical limitation, like a amputation that does not allow him to go into remote locations any longer."

Morgan picked it up again from there. "Or he may be evolving and have a new need to see the victims tortured even after death. If he has no personal taste for that, he may have found a partner that fulfills a new part of his fantasy. Even though the bodies have not been found in Portland yet, they could not have been disposed of by our second unsub."

Detective Brown asked, "Why is that?"

"We have evidence that our second unsub, the necropphiliac, was digging up graves in Provo, Utah last year in early August when the girls went missing in Portland." Prentiss picked it up without a beat. "Plus Unsub Number 1 has all of these murders well planned. He finds someplace secluded in each city so that he has time with the victims without being seen or heard. It is unlikely that he would trust someone to dispose of the bodies in Portland and find someone new here. So that leads us to believe he disposed of the bodies himself in the past."

The team continued giving the profile of the Unsub Number 2. In the cities that he had dug up bodies in the past, there were a few very poorly lit shots of him leaving a cemetery. That gave them a general description of his height and weight, but no features. They had the make and model of the vehicle he used from several photos, but the plates were always different and stolen.

They concluded the presentation asking the officers to concentrate their efforts on the necrophiliac. There was much more physical evidence to go on and if they could find him, he could lead them all to the other. Although he probably was physically strong to be able to dig up graves and carry out the bodies quickly, he would be a very reserved and quiet type that would most likely do anything that would keep him out of prison.

Two days later, with a lot of legwork from both the team and the local officers, they apprehended Unsub Number 1, Martin Wellington. As the team had predicted, it was easier to track down the necrophiliac. His name was Barney Sumthers, he was 48 and a self employed carpenter. They never had the chance to make a plea deal with him. With all the media attention on the case, Wellington had also figured out that he could get caught by his association with Sumthers and had gone to kill him. The team and local police got there just after Wellington had stabbed him. He preferred to smother the women to make them suffer, but he just wanted this to be a fast kill and had stabbed him from behind.

Martin Wellington was 57 and from Arlington, Texas the site of the first murders. He was unwilling to tell anyone why he had done it and lawyered up quickly. Ironically it was a knee surgery that had finally caused him to get caught. He had a knee replacement surgery in June that year and was not able to make the hike out into the desert with the bodies. Even with his sort term disability, his compulsion to kill during the same six-week period was too strong to deny. He wouldn't say how he had found Barney Sumthers and now that he was dead, they probably would never find out.

#

They all arrived home just before Labor Day. Rossi decided to have a pool party and barbeque for the team and their families. Hotch came and let everyone know he was cleared to go back to work the next day and would most likely be cleared to travel the week after that. Rossi also invited 3 military wives and their children stationed at Quantico whose husbands were deployed. The day was pleasant and almost everyone enjoyed the pool on the hot day. Reid and Hotch were the only exceptions; even Rossi took some time to enjoy the pool after everyone had eaten.

Everyone was in a good mood. Reid had finally been cleared to travel and Hotch's was looking forward to going back to work.


	11. Chapter 11

Hotch had been back to work for a week before the team was called to Kentucky to help the locals apprehend a man that stabbed four patrons in a pharmacy. When watching the video, the team noticed that the attack was unprovoked but he did not react until he was touched. Three of the four victims died from their injuries and they were sure there would be other victims if they didn't find him fast.

The team discovered the unsub's violent and traumatic childhood and Hotch was getting emotionally involved. He was still doing his job and no one said anything, but they made sure they all had his back. This was the first case that Reid had been allowed to travel and he spent much of the case quietly watching Hotch.

#

On the plane home from Louisville everyone was quiet. Most were sleeping and Morgan was listening to his music on headphones. Spencer went to talk to Hotch who was sitting alone in the back of the plane with some paper work. "Permission to speak freely?" he asked in a whisperer.

Hotch nodded, he had a good idea where this conversation was going. Reid continued, "I'd like to talk to you as a friend, not as a subordinate."

"I already agreed for you speaking freely" he said sounding annoyed.

Reid hurriedly continued, "Do you remember when we were on our way back from West Bune, Texas and you told me that I had put myself and my team's lives in danger and I needed to trust all of you?"

Hotch nodded as Reid said, "I can tell you word for word if you want me to."

Again Hotch sounded annoyed, "That won't be necessary. I remember what I said and now you are trying to tell me that I'm not living up to my own words."

"I'm not trying to upset you Hotch, I know you had a better reason to do what you did today than what I did with Owen, but you still could have gotten yourself killed." Reid said almost timidly.

Hotch nodded again and sighed, "I know. I should have listened to my own advice, but at that exact moment, I didn't care about me. I just wanted the boy to be safe and Darrin Call to have the chance to confront his father."

Reid was silent for a few minutes thinking on how to say what he wanted to. "Hotch, I know you don't need to go to the movies like I did," he said using the private wording they had used for Reid's AA meetings, "but you might find talking to Bob helpful anyway. He is a great listener, understands the stress of the job, and he lost both his wife and son. Hailey and Jack are still alive, but right now they are out of your life. I'm sure you don't want to talk about it with any of us; and having some shrink deciding if you can do this job is not what you need. We all know you can do this job, but sometimes it helps to have someone to talk to that is not involved and where there is no written record of the conversation."

"I'll think about it," sighing again and looking at Reid. "I like Bob and I know he has helped you, but I'm not sure I want to talk about any of this."

Reid nodded. As he stood up to leave he said, "You know you can talk to any of us, but I just wanted you to know there is another option if you decide you want to talk to someone off the record."

As he walked away Hotch called, "Spencer." He turned around surprised by the use of his first name. Hotch smiled slightly and said, "Thanks." Reid nodded and smiled back.

#

One week after they arrived home from Kentucky Spencer was scheduled to have the screws removed from his knee. Dr. Kimura referred an orthopedic surgeon she knew who worked out of Walter Reed. Fortunately a complete General Anesthesia was not needed. The surgeon was able to use a light sedation to put him to sleep and he did not need any prescription pain meds afterwards. The surgery went well and his knee was healing nicely. All it needed was time to repair itself. He was cleared to go back to work two days later.

A few days after that, the team was called to Rossi's hometown on Long Island, New York. There had been three victims shot in the head execution style and the local police needed help. When Hotch told Reid he wasn't cleared to travel, he nearly whined, "Why can't I go? It was a simple surgery, I should be cleared by now." Hotch held his ground and said that neither Dr. Kimura nor his surgeon had given permission yet and his decision was final.

Spencer had not had his final check up, but he knew he was well enough to travel and didn't think anyone would find out. After the briefing while the team was on the jet, he took an early lunch break. After leaving Dr. Kimura's office, he was cleared for travel, but it was too late for this case. He went back to the BAU and was determined to show Hotch that he could be helpful and he should have let him fly.

He and Garcia both helped the team find the killer. He was already at home when the team was heading to a hotel for the night. It was too late to leave. When Spencer told Chelsea everything that had happened on the case, she shook her head at him. "I know you and Garcia have worked very well together in the past. It sounds like you threw a bit of a temper tantrum at being left behind and tried to one-up Garcia." He started to pout and she laughed. "Did you really want to spend the night in Long Island that bad?"

He realized she was teasing him and leaned down to kiss her saying, "I guess there are advantages to not being able to fly."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I really enjoy writing about Spencer and Chelsea and I hope you enjoyed it also. I have tried to stay as true to the timeline in the CM universe as possible.

I already have some new plans for them and I am starting to work on the next book.

April 24th - I just posted the first chapter of the next story. It's called "_What the Heart Wants"_


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